MGOLF wins silver at national championshipGolden Hawks post best-ever result at Canadian University/College Championship

BARRIE, Ont. (June 5, 2017) - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s golf team made program history on Thursday as they captured the silver medal at the 2017 Canadian University/College Championship hosted at Tangle Creek Golf and Country Club.

The Hawks, whose best finish at the event came back in 2015 when they finish fifth in the team standings, narrowly missed out on gold as they finished with a team-total of 1213, just two strokes behind the champions, the Laval Rouge et Or. The two teams, along with the UBC Thunderbirds, battled each other, and the wind, all afternoon as the lead changed hands multiple times.

“Our men battled very difficult, windy conditions today and were able to stay in it mentally to gut it out for a second place finish,” commented head coach Jeff Colley after the tournament finished. “Our golf program here at Laurier has been improving steadily every year and I feel that this finish is a big step into making us one of the best programs in the country.”

“Our coaching staff is very excited by the finish and are very proud of the way our five men competed and conducted themselves all week,” added Colley. “I would like to congratulate Eric Flockhart on a great last event for the purple and gold.”

Entering the day tied the UBC and one stroke behind Laval, the Hawks fought through winds gusting up to 70 km/h throughout the round but hung around with the Thunderbirds and Rouge et Or.

Laurier’s first two golfers to hit the course, Jaron Brown of Thornhill, Ont., and Ryan Murphy of Ancaster, Ont., posted the team’s two lowest scores of the day. Brown had one of his best rounds of the week, shooting eight-over par 79 while Murphy posted the fifth-best round of the day, shooting a five-over par 76 to finish in a tie for 19th overall.

That set the stage for the Hawks top two players, 2016 OUA Champion Austin Ryan of Waterloo, Ont., and the 36-hole leader Eric Flockhart of Mississauga, Ont., to make a final push for the championship. With the title up for grabs, Ryan finished birdie-birdie on the final two holes while Flockhart finished bogey-par.

However, it wasn’t enough to catch the Rouge et Or who matched the Hawks at three-under par over the final two holes to come away with the championship.

Ryan and Flockhart would both finish the day shooting nine-over par 80. The round gave Flockhart a sixth place finish at 15-over par 299, just two strokes outside of a Top 5 finished which would have earned him an All-Canadian honour.

Ryan finished tied for seventh at 17-over par 301 to give Laurier its first two finishers inside the Top 10 of the individual standings in team history.

Andrew Cox of Kitchener, Ont., who didn’t score for Laurier on the day, finished at 27-over par 311 for the championship.

Laurier’s golf program will return to action in the Fall with invitational tournament play in the lead up to the 2017 OUA Championship.

Click here for final scoring from the 2017 Canadian University/College Championship.